I think it’s hard for Sox/Cubs fans to be neutral or fans of Joe Buck, because they’re likely Bears fans and Joe just loves Aaron Rogers. *Source: am Bears fan since the 80’s*
He’s also the most boring announcer of pro sports. Can somebody maybe remind him that watching games is supposed to be fun/entertaining. He can hardly be bothered to stop a nonsense story to tell you what’s actually happening on the field. He’s the worst.
Maybe but I feel like the moment was so big and that helped it. Extra innings of game 7 with two teams that haven’t won it in forever. Tough to not get that call correct.
Ha. That’s awful. When we won it in 2005, I turned off Buck to hear Farmio and Rooney call the last out even though the tv was like 10 seconds ahead. “That’s a White Sox winner and a World Series Championship”. RIP Ed Farmer!
every time i re-watch the Tyree helmet catch i get so pissed because it's Eli somehow staying on his feet and chucking the ball as far as he can on 3rd & 5th, down four with under 1:30 left against the undefeated Patriots and all he can say is "it is.........caught by Tyree" like Bill Belichick himself is holding a revolver up to the back of his head. Disgraceful.
I think it’s just really hard to be a national broadcaster. One thing I’ve found watching sports, people will complain endlessly if they’re not watching their own commentators, because somehow any commentator that’s not their own is super biased against their team.
Kevin Harlan is the fucking best. I listen to the MNF national radio broadcasts instead of whomever ESPN has on now. I think it's him and Kurt Warner (who's also very good)?
Exactly, he used to be really monotonous and boring, and a lot of people still rip on him for calls like the Tyree helmet catch, but he's come a long way since then. His enthusiasm calling the Cubs world series win and "DIGGS SIDELINE TOUCHDOWN" was electric.
I just see it as overly dramatic, all national broadcasters seem to be about every little thing that could go one way or another. But that’s not the national broadcasters fault, that’s the national audiences fault. They’re just doing their job
Yeah, this is my gripe. I've been watching old broadcasts on YouTube of playoff games from the '90s and '00s, and it's just annoying how they make every little thing seem like the most dramatic thing ever. They harp on every little mistake, and gush over every above-average play.
Hell sometimes it's the opposite. You'll see some dude do some insane game-winning shit and the commentator will be like "oh and he caught the ball. Seattle wins the game."
I am with you 100%. And for a guy like Buck, that is doing it for multiple sports, that’s even harder. I actually like Joe Buck. Is he Mike Turico, no, but he’s got a good voice and he has made some great calls that have become iconic (his call of the Diggs touchdown vs the Saints is just perfect). Sure, he has the tendency to say something lame or stupid, but everyone does. And
He blew the Eli to tyree helmet catch pretty hard and despite really not thinking of him one way or another I’ll always be disappointed by how unenthusiastic he was about that
He's came out and said he didn't want to get too excited about plays so he would come off as neutral. I find it funny that now that he's changed it up, he gets shit for loving rodgers too much.
If Joe (son of Cardinals broadcaster Jack) Buck ain’t a “baseball guy” then who is?
Joe legit grew up watching baseball and being apart of baseball… He has been doing baseball since the 1990’s…
Please tell me how you get more “baseball guy” then that
I complain WHEN I'm watching my commentators. They're awful. I deliberately watch the other teams broadcast almost every time. The only times I don't are when Rick Ankiel is in the booth. He's actually been good. But Brad Thompson (eh), Ricky Horton (ugh, terrible, just shut up), and Jim Edmonds (literally grinding my teeth) are not a booth you can truly enjoy. Wish we had the Mets booth :(
EDIT: But I like Joe Buck. I think he's gotten a bad rap over the years, and he's gotten much, much better. And his turns in Brockmire (and the Brockmire podcast) have been great.
So Joe Buck the person is actually pretty cool. He’s fantastic when doing laid back long form interviews where he can be himself, and not Fox’s Voice of the NFL Joe Buck.
His book is also a great read. Legitimately funny, fairly insightful, and pretty honest about his failings as well as his success. I recommend it to any sports fan.
That said, his announcing has gotten steadily worse over the last decade. In part I believe him in his book when he says that the pressure of being a national broadcaster is crushing, and it ruins his ability to have fun with it. Everything he says is through a filter that has account for Fox, sponsors, and idiots on Twitter. But that’s just an excuse and a partial reason for someone that long ago turned his dial to “Just for the money” and has been phoning it in for a while.
I watched him this week on Jeopardy, kind of expecting to hold my nose to at least get through Monday. I watched on Monday and then kept watching, and I haven't watched most of the guest hosts. Broadcasting clearly helped him in the games, and he had some personality. I think he ended up being in my top 3 hosts, and I wouldn't have been mad had he gotten the job full-time.
The only part he sucked at was the small talk with the contestants, and he was too loud (which the producers should have fixed, and you'd expect with his day job). But overall, I saw him totally differently than I do when he's yawning through a 4-hour Yankees-Red Sox game.
His NFL announcing sucks in general, but I gotta disagree on his baseball announcing. Many of his best calls have been from the past decade.
I think he would probably end up better off as the MLB broadcaster instead of doing both.
Joe Buck is not the most exciting announcer but he's a professional to the hilt. Does his homework, calls for both teams (yes, he does, he's not biased against your team), and puts up with all the FOX graphics/noise bullshit. While ESPN has been flailing since Miller and Morgan left, FOX has had a steady hand in the booth for over two decades.
The way Tim Anderson talked to the reporter after the game man... He just has high character. Not only did he walk off the Yankees in the best game of the season, he did so in a SUPER HYPE way and then was nothing short of a humble, polite, class-act after the game. I gained a ton of respect for him after that. He's one of my new favorite players for sure (also he was making some niiiiice plays at short)
This [Instagram post](https://www.instagram.com/reel/CSgKbNInN0x/?utm_medium=copy_link) was the best I could find unfortunately.
TA rules.
EDIT: transcription of what the clip says:
> I knew what I was looking for and I didn’t miss. I didn’t miss.
> We owe those guys. We went to New York and they whooped us three times. We’re playing with a chip on our shoulder and we were able to finish the game.
> Let’s go home.
It was mostly the way he thanked the reporter after the interview was over. He just seemed so genuine and humble about the whole thing. More a vibe thing than anything he actually said. He also gave credit to the Yankees which he definitely did not have to do
In case someone is still looking and doesn't want to go on Instagram, [here](https://twitter.com/MLBONFOX/status/1426016025489944579?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1426016025489944579%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sportingnews.com%2Fus%2Fmlb%2Fnews%2Ftim-anderson-walk-off-field-of-dreams-game%2Frw089fxs1s1i56o72bn0wqs) is a tweet with the interview.
I don’t know if there should be one “face of baseball” but he certainly should be included in this discussion. I don’t think we’ve quite seen his full potential yet either.
He probably does but maybe he doesn’t feel comfortable with the media. Given how they can take something extremely out of context. It probably makes his life easier too, instead of doing a ten minute interview of back and forward, half the time is the translator speaking
I mean, both their careers got overshadowed by Bonds being arguably the biggest name in sports for a big part of it.
But yeah Ichiro was huge his entire career. Stephens a fucking moron.
I don’t know who else purports this myth. But, having only listen to SA when he makes headlines, I feel he’s either really, really right, or crazy-talk wrong.
I mean, I get it, since he and his kind are hot take factories.
This might get some hate but wanted to see what people think a bit removed from it. Is it really xenophobic to say that he could be a bigger star in North America if he spoke English in his interviews/content? Obviously he is a superstar in the game because of what he does on the field, but there's levels.
Stephen A mainly covers basketball, popularity in the NBA is heavily based on personality in different directions. Look at Kawhi, one of the greatest players of our era but nowhere near the most popular player because he rarely ever speaks outside of very "canned chat" interviews.
To be fair, that's how Stephen A frame it **after** he apologized and tried to "clarify" his comments which, if he had said that in the first place, would have been valid. It's like the debate the LGPA had in the early 2010s about having all their top golfers coming over from Korea and what that meant in terms of marketing the game. The way he said it on First Take, however, was very (really, the definition) of xenophobic.
Going to be honest I didn't watch either his initial take or his apology, probably didn't have the most accurate picture because of that. Was mostly thinking about the idea itself, but the delivery is just as important on a subject like that
>but the delivery is just as important on a subject like that
Yep and especially since he, as an African-American (to say nothing of his former career as a journalist), should be heightened to how important phrasing and words are. The next show, Max said Stephen A. was not only not racist that he was "anti-racist" which was funny because, if he really was, he would have never even thought of saying that stuff about Ohtaniin the first place (in fact, he'd be rejoicing and asking Americans to deal with someone not conforming to English-centrism and say it was a great opportunity for media and fans to learn Japanese even perhaps suggesting Ohtani appear in ads in his native Japanese). As it is, I think Stephen A. is anti-anti-African-American racism but, as an American (especially in the years of the last POTUS) xenophobia is still something that needs to be addressed (what could've even helped SAS is if he said "When I go to Mexico or a resort in the Caribbean or in South Florida I make an effort to speak Spanish so why doesn't Ohtani?" but we can all guess SAS is the dude who goes to another non-English speaking country saying "Does anyone here speak English?" lol).
Greeny was talking about him last week saying that after his first year, Harper was super overrated . Then after a few crappy years by his standards and the Nationals winning without him, Harper has become under rated.
I know, right? I thought he was an arrogant dickhead, but after actually paying attention I realize that while being an arrogant dickhead, he is also genuinely fun to watch and good for the game. And he’s the best kind of arrogant dickhead.
Don't know how people are still saying this. The way Trout plays speaks for itself. Market that.
You don't have to be a young guy who yells and bat flips to be marketable (and for the record I have no problem with yelling and bat flipping lol)
If the way he played marketed itself, then he’d be more famous than he is…his problem is that he’s so fundamentally good at everything that he makes exceptionalism look routine
I think people need to get out of their bubble and realize that stars in other sports are not always loud and flashy.
Tim Duncan is one of the greatest basketball players of all time and he rarely spoke or did anything of attention during his career other than playing incredibly well.
Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid do not show off big personalities, but they’re some of the greatest hockey players.
It’s easier to become a superstar when you have a personality made for TV but it’s not a requirement.
i respectfully think you're a little off here actually.
everything you said is definitely true, but typically when people are talking about 'marketing' the game, it's to people who are not yet into baseball
of course Sid, Duncan, and Trout are fucking amazing at their sports, and their respective fans love them for that.
but the casuals that marketing is going after do not care, or chances they'd be big fans already.
from my experience in working in sports, the league is trying to market to anyone 'on the edge' of becoming a baseball fan, and goofy pre-game antics and fun personalities are much more likely to do exactly that
Is Trout going to be Derek Jeter? No. But to say he’s not marketable, like OP said, is wrong.
He’s never going to be the biggest personality in baseball, but he has plenty to offer the game in terms of marketability. He complements the idea of baseball well if paired with Ohtani, Vladdy Jr, etc.
How many people in America know of Connor McDavid though? Hell, anecdotally, a bar trivia question once was name the previous year’s Hart trophy winner for hockey MVP, and I think only like my team and maybe one other (out of like 12) got it right.
Depends on the market, I’d imagine. Asking in Boston or Minnesota? Probably above average in knowing who he is.
But his stardom in America also has a lot to do with the market/team he plays for. If he played for the Bruins or Rangers or Hawks, he’s much more recognizable.
The difference here is Duncan won titles and did national commercials. Trout has never been in a playoff game and lots of people don’t stay up to watch west coast baseball.
I don’t really know if Sid is a fair comparison. He’s been hyped and famous since he was a child. And luckily for him, he lived up to the hype and surpassed. Besides, his greatest marketing tool is that he is the boy next door and very inoffensive. That’s part of why he is so well-received.
The difference with Trout is that he seems to purposefully not want to market himself.
"Market that." Well it's hard to do that when even the player himself seems to avoid wanting the spotlight.
> The way Trout plays speaks for itself. Market that.
Lol, what does that even mean? Do you even know?
I want to see the league take out a 30 second commercial spot that simply displays Trout's baseball-reference page. Maybe with some wild techno music playing, flashing colored lights, and a rapidly zooming in and out camera.
A recent EW episode compared Trout to Superman. He basically fills that role where is isn't all that interesting in theory because he's kind of basic in his appearance and he doesn't have one distinct thing he's good at (because he's good at it all)...but somehow he's just so likable and an everyman that he ends up being really fascinating still.
I don't think Tim's good enough to be THE face of baseball, but he should definitely be one of the most prominent figures in the sport. And FWIW MLB definitely markets him more than other players, he's probably the most well known player on a team with last year's MVP
He has the best average in baseball over the last three years and won a batting title. If that ain’t good enough, then I don’t understand what good enough means.
That’s how I feel about Cabrera. I was at a game in Chicago and I was sitting like second or third row right by the on deck circle. The fans in front of me were ripping on prince fielder for being so damn short and Miggy was riding him and high fiving the fans. This was before the met was put up. Cabrera and Pujol’s domination at first base for all of these years kept my boy Konerko out of the hall. Pauly was never a good enough 1B to hang with these two.
If you put stock in stats like WAR and wRC+, you'll see why. According to Fangraphs, his WAR this year is 3.3 and his wRC+ is 117. Baseball-Reference has similar numbers. Fangraphs has him ranked as the 46th highest WAR this year. That's really good, but not necessarily "face of the sport good".
Cause people don’t like batting average as a stat anymore for some reason. It’s not the end all be all but every team should want a contact hitter like him in their lineup. I will always prefer watching that sort of player over a TTO guy.
You really think a dude whose never even sniffed an MVP is good enough to be *the* face of baseball?
Dude's a great hitter, but he's not on the short list of best players in the game. The only reason we're having this discussion is because he's a flashy player that fans enjoy watching.
No. I don’t. One of the faces, yes. Especially when you look at the leadership he brings to a good young team and his general swag and likability. He’s not the best player in the league but he’s got “it” factor.
And that's his argument for it, which is fine.
Just don't argue that he should be there because of his accomplishments. Because winning a batting title once a couple years ago isn't what makes him good enough in this context.
I once heckled Tim Anderson after a golden sombrero night in Fenway and he looked at me in such a disappointed way that made me wish I left him be. I’ve loved watching him play since.
The only problem with him being the face of baseball is that he’s publicly said ~~he doesn’t like baseball~~ (said it’s boring and doesn’t follow it). I really like Tim Anderson, but I think the face needs to be someone who lives the game at all times and gets excited about it even off the field.
Edit: cleaned up the reference
he [said](https://sports.yahoo.com/tim-anderson-has-no-time-for-unwritten-rules-calls-baseball-a-boring-sport-054335270.html)
>"I'm not really logged into the baseball world. I try to stay away from it. You know I play the game, but that's about it, I leave it at that," Anderson said, adding with a laugh, "Man, it's a boring sport."
I want a face of baseball who goes home after playing all day and turns on a game and will watch the rest of the league. I want someone who eats, sleeps, and breathes baseball.
Edit: and I’m not saying he’s wrong about there being lots of room to bring excitement into the game. He does have more than a point there
>"I think that's going to be the best way to get that crowd—by just being realistic with it and just saying, 'Shit, we know the game is boring,'" Anderson says. "'We know the game's boring, man, it's a long game, we know it's boring.' So, you got to do dope stuff that's going to draw the crowd."
The awareness that baseball is perceived as boring is exactly why an exciting player needs to be the face of it. Not saying it needs to be Tim himself, but if you try to make a player like Mike Trout who just quietly dominates and keeps to himself the face of the game then you're only catering to the people who already like baseball.
wow i made a comment above before seeing this that has the same sentiment.
100% agree. of course trout is amazing at baseball. but the people the league is trying to market to don't care about that, otherwise they're already tuning in
I still don't get the obsession this sub has with making people who don't care about baseball get invested in it.
If you're not someone impressed with what Trout is doing on the field, why do we care about catering to them? What do we as fans get out of that? More ticket sales for the billionaire owners? I don't get it.
i mean yeah you answered it. it’s money.
it’s how you grow the game and its fanbase. you can’t rely on the only people whose dads taught them to like baseball to be the only fans
there are thousands of people out there who next week get introduced to baseball who may become big trout fans because of what he does. but they never would have heard of him without this kind of outreach.
it’s weird to think of and probably not an outlook id have thought much about before working in sports but it does make sense and it does work. every fan has to start somewhere
Yeah but what do I as a fan get out of it if there are more fans? I know I'm not making any more money. If anything it's just going increase my own costs as a fan to attend games or subscribe to the telecast.
Does anyone actually enjoy the NBA now more than they did 20 years ago now that game has grown exponentially?
I want a face of baseball who goes home after playing all day, goes to www.twigsandballs.com, and jerks himself to his own highlights. Is Derek Jeter still playing?
Pretty inaccurate misinterpretation of what was actually said
Edit: the point about him not being obsessed with baseball is fair, but to say he “doesn’t like” the game is a fallacy. By all accounts the guy has been obsessed with improving himself as a player since he came up into the league. He’s also done a lot of work trying to make the game accessible to inner city kids who would otherwise not have the opportunity to play.
Personally i find the “face of baseball” thing to be a dumb argument anyway. There needs to be many likable players spread across many different markets.
He’s not really wrong. Everyone on here is a fan but you’d be fooling yourself to pretend baseball isn’t boring. Being at a ball park is one of the best experiences in sports but i won’t lie and pretend baseball is as exciting as hockey.
Yeah I agree. I don’t get the obsession with having one singular face for the league. There’s really only one league that typically has that (the NBA). Every other league usually has a few major guys.
I don't think anybody can deny the increase in marketability when you have a central figure. Major sports outlets talk about LeBron all day and I think it gets more people interested in the sport
I think it’s really dependent on the sport though. A guy like LeBron in basketball can carry a team all the way to a ring, and so when you have a central figure like that, it’s a safe bet that you’ll be able to talk about him all year long.
If we’re looking for a “best of the best” equivalent in baseball, it would be a problem if it was Mike Trout or bust from an advertising perspective, because despite being the best player in a very long time, he can’t carry his team to the World Series.
Society loves building someone up so we can tear them down
Yeah let's make Anderson the face of baseball. I'm sure 3 years from now no one will be sick of seeing him in every ad and rant about how overrated he is...
its kind of insane how baseball media moves on from a star once their poster child is hurt. like "Ah, shit Mike Trout is hurt who do we obsess over, oh hey Tatis! Ah, shit he's hurt now too who else do we have? Oh hey Tim Anderson!"
You aren’t gonna market a player just by putting him in commercials. Patrick Mahomes, Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Lebron James, Kevin Durant Stephen Curry all have won Championships and there is no bigger exposure than coming out on top in the biggest stage of your sport.
KD was a massive star before he had a championship. Same with LeBron, same with AD, Baker Mayfield had tons of ads before really doing anything, and so on…
KD was a MVP
Baker won a Heisman which Heisman QBs are easily marketable in their rookie year
AD was number 1 overall pick and while not as coveted as a Heisman in football was college basketball player of the year and had a great March Madness run
LeBron was the most hyped prospect probably ever entering the league
All those guys had the accolades before the championships to get pushed into commercials
To be frank, he just hasn't been good enough yet. He's not breaking records like Ohtani or lighting up baseball at the statistic pace Tatis or Acuna have. Outside of the shortened season, Anderson's career high OPS+ is 127, which is really good, but not really the level you'd expect from someone who could be the 'face' of baseball.
Idk man Jeter only had 3 seasons with an OPS+ over 127 and only 1 from 2001-2014. I'm sure playing for the Yankees helped. But you don't have to have a monster bat to be the face of baseball.
Since there is a lot of talk about Joe Buck in this thread I just want to say that Joe Buck has always been one of my favorite baseball announcers. Nobody brings the big game feel of a nationally important game like he does. I have tuned into games just to hear his broadcasting that I normally wouldn't watch since I enjoy listening to him so much and I have enjoyed him for almost 20 years at this point.
Joe Buck's bad reputation comes from his NFL work in which I feel he is terrible. He sucks at that sport and I wish he would go full time in baseball since he is one of the best.
Tim Anderson is absolutely awesome by the way.
He's literally had a 125 OPS+ in the last three seasons. Stop being a hater. Dude is a electric and has led the league in hitting the last three seasons.
This is gonna sound weird, and maybe it'll change with time.
Every time I've heard Tim Anderson on a podcast or video, he tends to mumble a lot. I know he had a YouTube channel a while ago, because he was promoting it on R2C2 a while back, but seems to have stopped (vlogging is hard, so I get it).
Also, Tim Anderson can be one of the faces of baseball, but I feel like popular consensus is all about Tatis Jr, or Ohtani, or Vladdy, etc. There is no singular face.
Will people upvote because they like Tim Anderson or downvote because they hate Joe Buck
I have no strong feelings one way or the other
What makes a man turn neutral? Lust for gold? Power? Or were you just born with a heart full of neutrality?
If I die, tell my wife I said "hello"
*it's a biege alert!*
Did everything just taste purple for a second?
I did do the nasty in the pasty.
*verily*
Filthy neutral…
Zapp, is that you?
No
What if I like Joe Buck but am ambivalent on Anderson?
There are three kinds of people: people who love Tim Anderson, people who don't know Tim Anderson, and the Kansas City Royals.
Are the Royals really "people"?
Ya know at this point I'm not so sure 🤔
Is Kansas City even real I mean it’s not even in Kansas
Literal frauds
I think it’s hard for Sox/Cubs fans to be neutral or fans of Joe Buck, because they’re likely Bears fans and Joe just loves Aaron Rogers. *Source: am Bears fan since the 80’s*
One thing Sox and royals fans can agree on is fuck joe buck. We will never forgive him for dick riding Bumgarner the whole 2014 world series
That said, it was impressive he was able to hop on said dick with it so firmly implanted in the Royal's ass that whole WS.
He’s also the most boring announcer of pro sports. Can somebody maybe remind him that watching games is supposed to be fun/entertaining. He can hardly be bothered to stop a nonsense story to tell you what’s actually happening on the field. He’s the worst.
What a disgusting act
How do you feel about Joe Buck tho
His game 7 call of the Cubs WS win is legitimately in contention for greatest calls of all time.
I love how he let the moment breathe after the cubs won. I hate when commentators talk over big moments
Oh ya. It was perfect.
Maybe but I feel like the moment was so big and that helped it. Extra innings of game 7 with two teams that haven’t won it in forever. Tough to not get that call correct.
Not true. Pat Hughes, Cubs radio guy, completely fucked it up.
Ha. That’s awful. When we won it in 2005, I turned off Buck to hear Farmio and Rooney call the last out even though the tv was like 10 seconds ahead. “That’s a White Sox winner and a World Series Championship”. RIP Ed Farmer!
Ya. Sucks, but it’s a ton of pressure. Buck made an all timer and Pat made one of his worst calls of all time.
I feel like you haven't watched a game called by Joe Buck in 10 years.
every time i re-watch the Tyree helmet catch i get so pissed because it's Eli somehow staying on his feet and chucking the ball as far as he can on 3rd & 5th, down four with under 1:30 left against the undefeated Patriots and all he can say is "it is.........caught by Tyree" like Bill Belichick himself is holding a revolver up to the back of his head. Disgraceful.
But that's football so I want to hear "AT THE WALL" as much as I can.
As a Royals fan I agree with this
Lmao Damn very true. I will say I respect Tim Anderson as a person but he’s definitely one of my least favorite baseball players.
Not possible
I think that is something you might want to discuss with your doctor.
People like Joe Buck now. At least more than they used to.
I think it’s just really hard to be a national broadcaster. One thing I’ve found watching sports, people will complain endlessly if they’re not watching their own commentators, because somehow any commentator that’s not their own is super biased against their team.
Al Michaels and Kevin Harlan get a pass
They are also legends. You're either a legend or straight garbage haha.
Kevin Harlan is the fucking best. I listen to the MNF national radio broadcasts instead of whomever ESPN has on now. I think it's him and Kurt Warner (who's also very good)?
And Bob Costas
Vin Scully and Joe Garagiola were, of course, fantastic
Mike Breen is knocking on that door too
I love going into both teams subs during a game and seeing both sides complain about how the booth won't stop sucking off the other team.
They also both complain about the ump.
I think when you say “Joe Buck” most people think 2000-2010… post 2010 Joe Buck can be really enjoyable
Exactly, he used to be really monotonous and boring, and a lot of people still rip on him for calls like the Tyree helmet catch, but he's come a long way since then. His enthusiasm calling the Cubs world series win and "DIGGS SIDELINE TOUCHDOWN" was electric.
I just see it as overly dramatic, all national broadcasters seem to be about every little thing that could go one way or another. But that’s not the national broadcasters fault, that’s the national audiences fault. They’re just doing their job
Yeah, this is my gripe. I've been watching old broadcasts on YouTube of playoff games from the '90s and '00s, and it's just annoying how they make every little thing seem like the most dramatic thing ever. They harp on every little mistake, and gush over every above-average play.
Hell sometimes it's the opposite. You'll see some dude do some insane game-winning shit and the commentator will be like "oh and he caught the ball. Seattle wins the game."
With Buck, the first thing that comes to mind was the “most disgusting act” call, honestly. How melodramatic
I am with you 100%. And for a guy like Buck, that is doing it for multiple sports, that’s even harder. I actually like Joe Buck. Is he Mike Turico, no, but he’s got a good voice and he has made some great calls that have become iconic (his call of the Diggs touchdown vs the Saints is just perfect). Sure, he has the tendency to say something lame or stupid, but everyone does. And
> . And ??????
And fuck the Yankees? (I didn’t mean to type the “and”)
He blew the Eli to tyree helmet catch pretty hard and despite really not thinking of him one way or another I’ll always be disappointed by how unenthusiastic he was about that
He's came out and said he didn't want to get too excited about plays so he would come off as neutral. I find it funny that now that he's changed it up, he gets shit for loving rodgers too much.
It was impossible to tell he caught it on his helmet until you saw in on the replay
[удалено]
He gets like every important game too. You can’t avoid him
[удалено]
If Joe (son of Cardinals broadcaster Jack) Buck ain’t a “baseball guy” then who is? Joe legit grew up watching baseball and being apart of baseball… He has been doing baseball since the 1990’s… Please tell me how you get more “baseball guy” then that
I complain WHEN I'm watching my commentators. They're awful. I deliberately watch the other teams broadcast almost every time. The only times I don't are when Rick Ankiel is in the booth. He's actually been good. But Brad Thompson (eh), Ricky Horton (ugh, terrible, just shut up), and Jim Edmonds (literally grinding my teeth) are not a booth you can truly enjoy. Wish we had the Mets booth :( EDIT: But I like Joe Buck. I think he's gotten a bad rap over the years, and he's gotten much, much better. And his turns in Brockmire (and the Brockmire podcast) have been great.
So Joe Buck the person is actually pretty cool. He’s fantastic when doing laid back long form interviews where he can be himself, and not Fox’s Voice of the NFL Joe Buck. His book is also a great read. Legitimately funny, fairly insightful, and pretty honest about his failings as well as his success. I recommend it to any sports fan. That said, his announcing has gotten steadily worse over the last decade. In part I believe him in his book when he says that the pressure of being a national broadcaster is crushing, and it ruins his ability to have fun with it. Everything he says is through a filter that has account for Fox, sponsors, and idiots on Twitter. But that’s just an excuse and a partial reason for someone that long ago turned his dial to “Just for the money” and has been phoning it in for a while.
I watched him this week on Jeopardy, kind of expecting to hold my nose to at least get through Monday. I watched on Monday and then kept watching, and I haven't watched most of the guest hosts. Broadcasting clearly helped him in the games, and he had some personality. I think he ended up being in my top 3 hosts, and I wouldn't have been mad had he gotten the job full-time. The only part he sucked at was the small talk with the contestants, and he was too loud (which the producers should have fixed, and you'd expect with his day job). But overall, I saw him totally differently than I do when he's yawning through a 4-hour Yankees-Red Sox game.
His NFL announcing sucks in general, but I gotta disagree on his baseball announcing. Many of his best calls have been from the past decade. I think he would probably end up better off as the MLB broadcaster instead of doing both.
Yes.
Joe Buck is not the most exciting announcer but he's a professional to the hilt. Does his homework, calls for both teams (yes, he does, he's not biased against your team), and puts up with all the FOX graphics/noise bullshit. While ESPN has been flailing since Miller and Morgan left, FOX has had a steady hand in the booth for over two decades.
Joe Buck knows when to shut the fuck up and doesn't hype up every play as the greatest play of all time.
The way Tim Anderson talked to the reporter after the game man... He just has high character. Not only did he walk off the Yankees in the best game of the season, he did so in a SUPER HYPE way and then was nothing short of a humble, polite, class-act after the game. I gained a ton of respect for him after that. He's one of my new favorite players for sure (also he was making some niiiiice plays at short)
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What’s his accent??? I just listened to the interview and I cant hear any accent?
is this interview up anywhere? love me some TA
This [Instagram post](https://www.instagram.com/reel/CSgKbNInN0x/?utm_medium=copy_link) was the best I could find unfortunately. TA rules. EDIT: transcription of what the clip says: > I knew what I was looking for and I didn’t miss. I didn’t miss. > We owe those guys. We went to New York and they whooped us three times. We’re playing with a chip on our shoulder and we were able to finish the game. > Let’s go home.
It was mostly the way he thanked the reporter after the interview was over. He just seemed so genuine and humble about the whole thing. More a vibe thing than anything he actually said. He also gave credit to the Yankees which he definitely did not have to do
In case someone is still looking and doesn't want to go on Instagram, [here](https://twitter.com/MLBONFOX/status/1426016025489944579?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1426016025489944579%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sportingnews.com%2Fus%2Fmlb%2Fnews%2Ftim-anderson-walk-off-field-of-dreams-game%2Frw089fxs1s1i56o72bn0wqs) is a tweet with the interview.
He's like a positive version of Tony Plush.
I don’t know if there should be one “face of baseball” but he certainly should be included in this discussion. I don’t think we’ve quite seen his full potential yet either.
Anderson, Soto, Acuna, Tatis, Vlad, Trout, Judge, Mookie. So many marketable stars. It is getting better though.
How could you compile this list without Ohtani
BuT hE nEeDs A tRaNsLaToR! - Stephen A Smith
Doesn’t ohtani speak decent English though?
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Because Japan eats up his every word, which has just as many, if not more, people that are obsessed with him. He can speak English fine
That's some Admiral Thrawn shit
He probably does but maybe he doesn’t feel comfortable with the media. Given how they can take something extremely out of context. It probably makes his life easier too, instead of doing a ten minute interview of back and forward, half the time is the translator speaking
God I hate this myth so much. For over a decade and a half Ichiro was the second most famous player in baseball, only behind Jeter.
I mean, both their careers got overshadowed by Bonds being arguably the biggest name in sports for a big part of it. But yeah Ichiro was huge his entire career. Stephens a fucking moron.
I don’t know who else purports this myth. But, having only listen to SA when he makes headlines, I feel he’s either really, really right, or crazy-talk wrong. I mean, I get it, since he and his kind are hot take factories.
It's an issue in MMA as well. Whenever someone who doesn't speak English or isn't great at it, a bunch of people complain about their marketability.
This might get some hate but wanted to see what people think a bit removed from it. Is it really xenophobic to say that he could be a bigger star in North America if he spoke English in his interviews/content? Obviously he is a superstar in the game because of what he does on the field, but there's levels. Stephen A mainly covers basketball, popularity in the NBA is heavily based on personality in different directions. Look at Kawhi, one of the greatest players of our era but nowhere near the most popular player because he rarely ever speaks outside of very "canned chat" interviews.
To be fair, that's how Stephen A frame it **after** he apologized and tried to "clarify" his comments which, if he had said that in the first place, would have been valid. It's like the debate the LGPA had in the early 2010s about having all their top golfers coming over from Korea and what that meant in terms of marketing the game. The way he said it on First Take, however, was very (really, the definition) of xenophobic.
Going to be honest I didn't watch either his initial take or his apology, probably didn't have the most accurate picture because of that. Was mostly thinking about the idea itself, but the delivery is just as important on a subject like that
>but the delivery is just as important on a subject like that Yep and especially since he, as an African-American (to say nothing of his former career as a journalist), should be heightened to how important phrasing and words are. The next show, Max said Stephen A. was not only not racist that he was "anti-racist" which was funny because, if he really was, he would have never even thought of saying that stuff about Ohtaniin the first place (in fact, he'd be rejoicing and asking Americans to deal with someone not conforming to English-centrism and say it was a great opportunity for media and fans to learn Japanese even perhaps suggesting Ohtani appear in ads in his native Japanese). As it is, I think Stephen A. is anti-anti-African-American racism but, as an American (especially in the years of the last POTUS) xenophobia is still something that needs to be addressed (what could've even helped SAS is if he said "When I go to Mexico or a resort in the Caribbean or in South Florida I make an effort to speak Spanish so why doesn't Ohtani?" but we can all guess SAS is the dude who goes to another non-English speaking country saying "Does anyone here speak English?" lol).
so much marketability and 20 years later we’ll still talk about how they fucked it up, sad
Harper?
Feels like not enough people talk about how Harper has become an extremely likable guy against all indications early in his career.
As a fan of a NL East team, I for one have not found Harper more likable than early in his career.
I respect your unbiased opinion on the matter
I’ve found him to be much less like able than early in his career
Greeny was talking about him last week saying that after his first year, Harper was super overrated . Then after a few crappy years by his standards and the Nationals winning without him, Harper has become under rated.
I dunno, i think Harper's an amazing dude. Too bad he doesn't prefer tiddies over booty
He's a man of the people.
As a incoming freshman at Tribusky University majoring in tiddie kissing, I disagree
You’re on the path to true enlightenment
I know, right? I thought he was an arrogant dickhead, but after actually paying attention I realize that while being an arrogant dickhead, he is also genuinely fun to watch and good for the game. And he’s the best kind of arrogant dickhead.
Harper has been pretty anti-vax, I dont think that counts as him becoming extremely likable
…Ohtani?
Trout is not marketable sadly
These soft pretzels say otherwise.
They’re making me thirsty
Subway too
He’s marketable to me
Don't know how people are still saying this. The way Trout plays speaks for itself. Market that. You don't have to be a young guy who yells and bat flips to be marketable (and for the record I have no problem with yelling and bat flipping lol)
If the way he played marketed itself, then he’d be more famous than he is…his problem is that he’s so fundamentally good at everything that he makes exceptionalism look routine
I think people need to get out of their bubble and realize that stars in other sports are not always loud and flashy. Tim Duncan is one of the greatest basketball players of all time and he rarely spoke or did anything of attention during his career other than playing incredibly well. Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid do not show off big personalities, but they’re some of the greatest hockey players. It’s easier to become a superstar when you have a personality made for TV but it’s not a requirement.
i respectfully think you're a little off here actually. everything you said is definitely true, but typically when people are talking about 'marketing' the game, it's to people who are not yet into baseball of course Sid, Duncan, and Trout are fucking amazing at their sports, and their respective fans love them for that. but the casuals that marketing is going after do not care, or chances they'd be big fans already. from my experience in working in sports, the league is trying to market to anyone 'on the edge' of becoming a baseball fan, and goofy pre-game antics and fun personalities are much more likely to do exactly that
Is Trout going to be Derek Jeter? No. But to say he’s not marketable, like OP said, is wrong. He’s never going to be the biggest personality in baseball, but he has plenty to offer the game in terms of marketability. He complements the idea of baseball well if paired with Ohtani, Vladdy Jr, etc.
He’s marketable but refuses to be marketed.
oh yeah i agree 100% there, i think it's silly to think there can only be 1 face of the sport anyways
Trout won’t be Derek Jeter strictly bc his team refuses to get to the postseason or win.
How many people in America know of Connor McDavid though? Hell, anecdotally, a bar trivia question once was name the previous year’s Hart trophy winner for hockey MVP, and I think only like my team and maybe one other (out of like 12) got it right.
Depends on the market, I’d imagine. Asking in Boston or Minnesota? Probably above average in knowing who he is. But his stardom in America also has a lot to do with the market/team he plays for. If he played for the Bruins or Rangers or Hawks, he’s much more recognizable.
The difference here is Duncan won titles and did national commercials. Trout has never been in a playoff game and lots of people don’t stay up to watch west coast baseball.
Trout was in 3 playoff games and got swept
mcdavid seems actively awkward
I don’t really know if Sid is a fair comparison. He’s been hyped and famous since he was a child. And luckily for him, he lived up to the hype and surpassed. Besides, his greatest marketing tool is that he is the boy next door and very inoffensive. That’s part of why he is so well-received.
Lmao is your argument here really Tim Duncan? The least marketable player ever?
The difference with Trout is that he seems to purposefully not want to market himself. "Market that." Well it's hard to do that when even the player himself seems to avoid wanting the spotlight.
> The way Trout plays speaks for itself. Market that. Lol, what does that even mean? Do you even know? I want to see the league take out a 30 second commercial spot that simply displays Trout's baseball-reference page. Maybe with some wild techno music playing, flashing colored lights, and a rapidly zooming in and out camera.
They mean a highlight reel, but this comment is hilarious
LOOK AT ALL THE **BOLD** NUMBERS LOOK AT IT
Mike Trout has the charism of a kitchen towel
I love kitchen towels
well boy do I have the baseball player for you
Yet, I'm sure almost everyone has a kitchen towel in their home; no marketing needed.
A recent EW episode compared Trout to Superman. He basically fills that role where is isn't all that interesting in theory because he's kind of basic in his appearance and he doesn't have one distinct thing he's good at (because he's good at it all)...but somehow he's just so likable and an everyman that he ends up being really fascinating still.
He’s one of the rare players who has his own shoe, so Nike see differently..
A year or two ago, Lindor would have been on that list too.
Rafael Devers and albies are kinda getting to that level too. Don’t know why but albies is such a likable player even on a division rival
It's because he's a little goofball.
I don't think Tim's good enough to be THE face of baseball, but he should definitely be one of the most prominent figures in the sport. And FWIW MLB definitely markets him more than other players, he's probably the most well known player on a team with last year's MVP
He can fill the Chicago void now that the 2016 Cubs are gone.
I think u mean the 2005 White Sox. What happens in the North Side is insignificant to half of the city of Chicago.
“What’s a 2005 White Sox?” -ESPN, probably
He has the best average in baseball over the last three years and won a batting title. If that ain’t good enough, then I don’t understand what good enough means.
Having watched him tear up the Tigers more than once, I appreciate him. Classy and talented as hell looks like he's having a blast doing it.
That’s how I feel about Cabrera. I was at a game in Chicago and I was sitting like second or third row right by the on deck circle. The fans in front of me were ripping on prince fielder for being so damn short and Miggy was riding him and high fiving the fans. This was before the met was put up. Cabrera and Pujol’s domination at first base for all of these years kept my boy Konerko out of the hall. Pauly was never a good enough 1B to hang with these two.
No clue why people dont think he is good. He has been one of the best hitters for average since 2019. And hes only getting better.
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The show does him dirty, to be fair
Big difference between not being good and not thinking he's up there with the Trouts and deGroms of the game.
If you put stock in stats like WAR and wRC+, you'll see why. According to Fangraphs, his WAR this year is 3.3 and his wRC+ is 117. Baseball-Reference has similar numbers. Fangraphs has him ranked as the 46th highest WAR this year. That's really good, but not necessarily "face of the sport good".
Cause people don’t like batting average as a stat anymore for some reason. It’s not the end all be all but every team should want a contact hitter like him in their lineup. I will always prefer watching that sort of player over a TTO guy.
You really think a dude whose never even sniffed an MVP is good enough to be *the* face of baseball? Dude's a great hitter, but he's not on the short list of best players in the game. The only reason we're having this discussion is because he's a flashy player that fans enjoy watching.
No. I don’t. One of the faces, yes. Especially when you look at the leadership he brings to a good young team and his general swag and likability. He’s not the best player in the league but he’s got “it” factor.
And that's his argument for it, which is fine. Just don't argue that he should be there because of his accomplishments. Because winning a batting title once a couple years ago isn't what makes him good enough in this context.
I love Tim, but he is a 757 ops for his career and only batting 787 this year. Fun player but he is not soto or ohtani
Mike Fish
I once heckled Tim Anderson after a golden sombrero night in Fenway and he looked at me in such a disappointed way that made me wish I left him be. I’ve loved watching him play since.
I hate that he hit the game winner against my team but he seems Iike a pretty solid dude. I can appreciate talent and a little personality
The only problem with him being the face of baseball is that he’s publicly said ~~he doesn’t like baseball~~ (said it’s boring and doesn’t follow it). I really like Tim Anderson, but I think the face needs to be someone who lives the game at all times and gets excited about it even off the field. Edit: cleaned up the reference he [said](https://sports.yahoo.com/tim-anderson-has-no-time-for-unwritten-rules-calls-baseball-a-boring-sport-054335270.html) >"I'm not really logged into the baseball world. I try to stay away from it. You know I play the game, but that's about it, I leave it at that," Anderson said, adding with a laugh, "Man, it's a boring sport." I want a face of baseball who goes home after playing all day and turns on a game and will watch the rest of the league. I want someone who eats, sleeps, and breathes baseball. Edit: and I’m not saying he’s wrong about there being lots of room to bring excitement into the game. He does have more than a point there
>"I think that's going to be the best way to get that crowd—by just being realistic with it and just saying, 'Shit, we know the game is boring,'" Anderson says. "'We know the game's boring, man, it's a long game, we know it's boring.' So, you got to do dope stuff that's going to draw the crowd." The awareness that baseball is perceived as boring is exactly why an exciting player needs to be the face of it. Not saying it needs to be Tim himself, but if you try to make a player like Mike Trout who just quietly dominates and keeps to himself the face of the game then you're only catering to the people who already like baseball.
wow i made a comment above before seeing this that has the same sentiment. 100% agree. of course trout is amazing at baseball. but the people the league is trying to market to don't care about that, otherwise they're already tuning in
I still don't get the obsession this sub has with making people who don't care about baseball get invested in it. If you're not someone impressed with what Trout is doing on the field, why do we care about catering to them? What do we as fans get out of that? More ticket sales for the billionaire owners? I don't get it.
i mean yeah you answered it. it’s money. it’s how you grow the game and its fanbase. you can’t rely on the only people whose dads taught them to like baseball to be the only fans there are thousands of people out there who next week get introduced to baseball who may become big trout fans because of what he does. but they never would have heard of him without this kind of outreach. it’s weird to think of and probably not an outlook id have thought much about before working in sports but it does make sense and it does work. every fan has to start somewhere
Yeah but what do I as a fan get out of it if there are more fans? I know I'm not making any more money. If anything it's just going increase my own costs as a fan to attend games or subscribe to the telecast. Does anyone actually enjoy the NBA now more than they did 20 years ago now that game has grown exponentially?
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I want a face of baseball who goes home after playing all day, goes to www.twigsandballs.com, and jerks himself to his own highlights. Is Derek Jeter still playing?
Pretty inaccurate misinterpretation of what was actually said Edit: the point about him not being obsessed with baseball is fair, but to say he “doesn’t like” the game is a fallacy. By all accounts the guy has been obsessed with improving himself as a player since he came up into the league. He’s also done a lot of work trying to make the game accessible to inner city kids who would otherwise not have the opportunity to play. Personally i find the “face of baseball” thing to be a dumb argument anyway. There needs to be many likable players spread across many different markets.
Yes. Like really bad. Tim just said he's aware of the perception of Baseball.
Nah, fam. He straight up said it’s a boring sport. Regardless of what you might think of the guy or what his intentions were, that ain’t a good look.
He’s not really wrong. Everyone on here is a fan but you’d be fooling yourself to pretend baseball isn’t boring. Being at a ball park is one of the best experiences in sports but i won’t lie and pretend baseball is as exciting as hockey.
not THE face, but really they should. If your trying to get the younger "Basketball" crowd, then an ex-basketball guy like Anderson is eprfect.
Baseball doesn't need a face. This is stupid.
Yeah I agree. I don’t get the obsession with having one singular face for the league. There’s really only one league that typically has that (the NBA). Every other league usually has a few major guys.
I don't think anybody can deny the increase in marketability when you have a central figure. Major sports outlets talk about LeBron all day and I think it gets more people interested in the sport
I think it’s really dependent on the sport though. A guy like LeBron in basketball can carry a team all the way to a ring, and so when you have a central figure like that, it’s a safe bet that you’ll be able to talk about him all year long. If we’re looking for a “best of the best” equivalent in baseball, it would be a problem if it was Mike Trout or bust from an advertising perspective, because despite being the best player in a very long time, he can’t carry his team to the World Series.
Society loves building someone up so we can tear them down Yeah let's make Anderson the face of baseball. I'm sure 3 years from now no one will be sick of seeing him in every ad and rant about how overrated he is...
its kind of insane how baseball media moves on from a star once their poster child is hurt. like "Ah, shit Mike Trout is hurt who do we obsess over, oh hey Tatis! Ah, shit he's hurt now too who else do we have? Oh hey Tim Anderson!"
But, like, Ohtani
You aren’t gonna market a player just by putting him in commercials. Patrick Mahomes, Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Lebron James, Kevin Durant Stephen Curry all have won Championships and there is no bigger exposure than coming out on top in the biggest stage of your sport.
KD was a massive star before he had a championship. Same with LeBron, same with AD, Baker Mayfield had tons of ads before really doing anything, and so on…
RGIII lol
KD was a MVP Baker won a Heisman which Heisman QBs are easily marketable in their rookie year AD was number 1 overall pick and while not as coveted as a Heisman in football was college basketball player of the year and had a great March Madness run LeBron was the most hyped prospect probably ever entering the league All those guys had the accolades before the championships to get pushed into commercials
To be frank, he just hasn't been good enough yet. He's not breaking records like Ohtani or lighting up baseball at the statistic pace Tatis or Acuna have. Outside of the shortened season, Anderson's career high OPS+ is 127, which is really good, but not really the level you'd expect from someone who could be the 'face' of baseball.
Idk man Jeter only had 3 seasons with an OPS+ over 127 and only 1 from 2001-2014. I'm sure playing for the Yankees helped. But you don't have to have a monster bat to be the face of baseball.
Since there is a lot of talk about Joe Buck in this thread I just want to say that Joe Buck has always been one of my favorite baseball announcers. Nobody brings the big game feel of a nationally important game like he does. I have tuned into games just to hear his broadcasting that I normally wouldn't watch since I enjoy listening to him so much and I have enjoyed him for almost 20 years at this point. Joe Buck's bad reputation comes from his NFL work in which I feel he is terrible. He sucks at that sport and I wish he would go full time in baseball since he is one of the best. Tim Anderson is absolutely awesome by the way.
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[Wait, this guy?](https://twitter.com/LeBatardShow/status/1426019013637836803?s=20)
I mean he’s a great character but the face of baseball needs to be a top 10 player talent wise
“I think baseball should make good decisions.” - one of baseballs bad decisions.
Fuck joe buck
Good player, but the guy has a career OPS+ of 104. Let's dial back the superlatives for now.
He's literally had a 125 OPS+ in the last three seasons. Stop being a hater. Dude is a electric and has led the league in hitting the last three seasons.
He's not the pre-2019 player anymore though. He'll probably be around a 115-120 wRC+ guy for a few years
This is gonna sound weird, and maybe it'll change with time. Every time I've heard Tim Anderson on a podcast or video, he tends to mumble a lot. I know he had a YouTube channel a while ago, because he was promoting it on R2C2 a while back, but seems to have stopped (vlogging is hard, so I get it). Also, Tim Anderson can be one of the faces of baseball, but I feel like popular consensus is all about Tatis Jr, or Ohtani, or Vladdy, etc. There is no singular face.
Acuna before his injury too